Carbon dioxide is a major contributor to climate change. which affects weather, including superstorms, droughts and wildfires [“Obama’s coal plan catches up with climate policy in Olympia,” Opinion, June 4]. We, in Washington state, are vulnerable to all of these effects. The EPA regulation of power plants is a major effort to address climate change because power plants are among the largest sources of carbon pollution.

Because emissions of carbon dioxide are “free” under current economic systems, they have been dumping unlimited carbon pollution without regard to the costs. Washington is starting to address this issue by shutting down coal burning at the Centralia power plant.

But we cannot address it alone. We also receive coal-generated electricity from Montana, and addressing climate change requires a nationwide control of carbon emissions.

Costs of inaction are not something that Washington can afford. Impacts such as forest fires and acidification of the ocean are already costly, and the snowpack will likely decline to the point that agriculture will be severely affected.

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